Fullers360

Who owns Fullers360?

Fullers360 is currently owned by Souter Investments through Souter Investments (Balance Sheet) (2008 vintage), since 2009.

Hand-verified · updated 2026-07-16

About Fullers360

Fullers360 is an Auckland-based ferry and marine tourism operator, the largest provider of maritime passenger transport services in New Zealand, carrying commuters and visitors across the Waitemata Harbour and the wider Hauraki Gulf. Its scheduled network links downtown Auckland with Devonport, Waiheke Island, Hobsonville Point, Half Moon Bay, Gulf Harbour and other destinations, blending contracted public transit with a leisure and sightseeing business to islands such as Rangitoto. The company runs a fleet of roughly 21 vessels, from large fast catamarans seating up to 650 passengers to hybrid-electric and fully electric craft, and it also operates what it describes as New Zealand first fully electric urban bus fleet. It carries more than 5.5 million passengers a year, and its holding company reported revenue of NZ 80.3 million dollars for the year to March 2024, up 14 percent on the prior year, with a workforce of around 350 staff.

Ownership journey

Fullers traces its modern identity to 1981 in Auckland, when the Hudson family built up a harbour ferry business that later passed through Stagecoach and then Infratil ownership. In 2009 Souter Investments, the Edinburgh-based family office of transport entrepreneur Brian Souter, acquired the Fullers ferry business from Infratil, and it subsequently combined the operation with 360 Discovery Limited, a separate Hauraki Gulf ferry and cruise operator. The two brands were consolidated under the single Fullers360 name in 2018. Souter Investments continues to list Fullers360 as a current portfolio holding with an April 2009 vintage, and no exit or secondary transaction has been recorded on its side.

Under PE ownership

Under the ownership of Souter Investments the business was assembled from two ferry operators into a single integrated Auckland network spanning contracted commuter routes and a discretionary tourism arm. Since the investment the company has expanded its fleet and pushed a decarbonisation programme, commissioning hybrid-electric vessels and the Kea, described as the world first electric hydrofoil ferry, alongside a fully electric urban bus fleet. Revenue recovered strongly after the pandemic, rising to NZ 80.3 million dollars in the year to March 2024 from NZ 70.2 million dollars, as passenger volumes climbed back above 5.5 million a year. The group has continued to invest in clean-emission marine technology, positioning ferries as a lower-carbon spine of the Auckland public transport system.